“The Alberta Government has taken
a ‘talk and drill’ approach to developing the oil sands. It has
squandered an opportunity to get effective environmental management in
place ahead of serious on-the-ground cumulative impacts. Now it must
play catch up,” said Chris Severson-Baker, Policy Director with the
Pembina Institute and former CEMA Board Member.

As founding
members of CEMA, the multi-stakeholder organization initiated by the
Government of Alberta to recommend environmental management systems in
the Athabasca oil sands, the Pembina Institute, Toxics Watch and FMEA
made significant efforts to advance environmental management within
CEMA. Those efforts ultimately proved unsuccessful. Further, the
Government of Alberta’s ongoing approval of oil sands projects in the
absence of sufficient environmental management — and its lack of senior
leadership — fundamentally undermined CEMA's mandate.

“Frankly
speaking, we can no longer legitimize a process that both the oil sands
industry and government have been using as a shield to deflect
criticism about the cumulative environmental impacts of oil sands
development,” said Myles Kitagawa, a director with the Toxics Watch
Society. “We urgently need to set science-based environmental limits
before approving new oil sands development.”

Recognizing the
urgent need for environmental management and the benefits of engaging
stakeholders, including Aboriginal groups, environmental organizations
and the oil sands industry, the Pembina Institute, Toxics Watch and
FMEA have put forward recommendations for a new multi-stakeholder
approach to environmental management:

Suspend new oil sands approvals and lease sales until interim environmental limits and management systems are in place.

Engage this reconstituted multi-stakeholder organization in a review of draft management systems with a firm deadline.

Present recommendations to the governments of Alberta, Canada and the five Athabasca-region First Nations for implementation.

“To
restore its credibility and legitimacy with stakeholders the Alberta
Government must acknowledge that the current approach is fundamentally
broken,” said Simon Dyer, Oil Sands Program Director with the Pembina
Institute.

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